Former NBA Baller Indicted on Murder, Weapons, Gang Charges

Former NBA player Javaris Crittenton has been indicted on charges of murder and gang activity. According to police, the 29-year-old and his cousin, Douglas Gamble, are charged in the death of an Atlanta woman and the attempted murder of another man. Mother-of-four Julian Jones was shot and killed while walking with a group in August 2011. Authorities say that incident and a second shooting were gang-related, and may have been retaliation after Javaris was the victim of a robbery. Jarvis was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2007 and also joined the Mansfield Gangster Crips street gang. He was suspended in 2010 for pulling a gun in the Wizards' locker room.

In two separate incidents in August of 2011, prosecutors said Crittenton shot at people, seeking retribution at a rival gang member who robbed him earlier in the year. Crittenton was allegedly armed with a high-powered rifle the night Julian Jones, 23, was shot. Five days before Jones’ death, a gunman fired on, but missed, Demontinez Stephens from the driver’s seat of a Porsche. Prosecutors believe that gunman was Crittenton. Both on the night of the Jones’ death, and on Aug. 14, when the gunman shot at Demontinez Stephens, prosecutors said Crittenton was gunning for his brother, Trontavious Stephens. Banks said Trontavious Stephens was a member of R.O.C. Crew, a local set of the Bloods gang. Trontavious Stephens has said he did not know Crittenton and had never seen him before the night Jones was shot. Prosecutors said Crittenton was robbed at gunpoint in April 2011 of more than $55,000 in jewelry, including a diamond watch, diamond necklace and iPhone. Prosecutors said that shortly after Crittenton signed a multi-million-dollar deal with the L.A. Lakers in 2007 he fell in with the Mansfield Gangster Crips. “It is not uncommon for individuals involved in professional athletics to go out and join street gangs for protection,” Banks said. And Banks said Crittenton’s gang involvement has linked him to another death in California. “There will at some point during the trial be facts from a related murder investigation,” the prosecutor said. “He was not charged in that murder, but at some point was a witness in that murder … that involved the Mansfield Gangster Crips.”

Javaris was arrested and charged with murder in 2011 and has been free on $230,000 bond. At his official indictment today, a grand jury indicted him on charges that include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, giving false statements, and participation in criminal street gang activity